After reading this http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=83367 thread, I kept asking myself "why place the battery in the back?"
There was a time when the battery was a very heavy item, and it was worth the effort to place it in the best location for cg control.
The battery has changed, and will continue to get smaller and lighter. My 6A has the battery on the firewall. Easy to service, easy runs to the alt. and starter. Easy run to the main bus.
I would rather have the battery on the firewall and ballast the aircraft with extra weight in the far aft fuselage than deal with the problems of an aft mounted battery and long heavy cable runs.
My 6A is an O320 FP prop so it is light on the nose. Cargo is restricted, but it sure does fly sweet!! Aft cg RV's fly great. So why not build the aircraft to fly great all of the time. Build to the fwd cg chart so you can load up the cargo area, and then use far aft ballast to find the sweet spot for local flights.
There was a time when the battery was a very heavy item, and it was worth the effort to place it in the best location for cg control.
The battery has changed, and will continue to get smaller and lighter. My 6A has the battery on the firewall. Easy to service, easy runs to the alt. and starter. Easy run to the main bus.
I would rather have the battery on the firewall and ballast the aircraft with extra weight in the far aft fuselage than deal with the problems of an aft mounted battery and long heavy cable runs.
My 6A is an O320 FP prop so it is light on the nose. Cargo is restricted, but it sure does fly sweet!! Aft cg RV's fly great. So why not build the aircraft to fly great all of the time. Build to the fwd cg chart so you can load up the cargo area, and then use far aft ballast to find the sweet spot for local flights.